Sunday 9th November 2014
Review of the concert by Philip Worth
Beethoven’s stirring overture Leonora no. 3 was a fine curtain raiser for the full DSO’s November concert. It echoes the themes of sacrifice, heroism and eventual triumph developed in the opera Fidelio, reflecting in turn the restless mood sweeping Europe in the wake of the French Revolution which exploded at the end of the eighteenth century. If you enjoy this music as a one-off concert piece it’s as well not to concern yourself either with the opera’s plot or its provenance – both are very complicated. There were three versions of the opera alone and four of the overture before the dust settled sometime in the 1840s, twenty years after the composer’s death and forty years after its initial composition. Never mind – enjoy Leonora no. 3 on its own merits – it’s a real rouser!
Accustomed as we are to sad stories of composers who died young, were always hard up or went mad it is a relief to turn to Joseph Haydn whose life was one of pure spun gold from beginning (1732) to end (1808) when he died peacefully in his own bed at age 77 revered by the entire musical world – and beyond. Consider some of the facts of his long life:
On first hearing Dvorak’s cello concerto Brahms is on record as having remarked: “if I had thought it possible to write a solo piece like that for the instrument I would have composed one long ago.” This sentiment can be backed by a quote from John Clapham’s authoritative biography of Dvorak:….”this noble work is notable for the richness of its invention and its imaginative and inspired colouring….there is little doubt that this work is the greatest of all cello concertos.” Difficult to follow that, of course, but on probing a little further into the background we are surprised to learn that, long after he had achieved celebrity as a composer Dvorak rejected the suggestion that he should write a cello concerto. He regarded the cello as a serviceable orchestral instrument, but not appropriate in any solo capacity. He didn’t like its ‘nasal high register’ nor its ‘mumbling bass’ (what about the bits in between, maestro?) But Victor Herbert (American composer who would have a go at anything and everything) took time off producing operettas to compose a cello concerto which so impressed Dvorak that, in a complete change of attitude, he set to work and created this mature masterpiece, first publicly performed in 1896. With its fountain of intoxicating melodies it has continued to enchant generations of music lovers ever since, not least on the afternoon of Sunday 9th November 2014 in the hands of the distinguished artist Benjamin Hughes.
Beethoven’s stirring overture Leonora no. 3 was a fine curtain raiser for the full DSO’s November concert. It echoes the themes of sacrifice, heroism and eventual triumph developed in the opera Fidelio, reflecting in turn the restless mood sweeping Europe in the wake of the French Revolution which exploded at the end of the eighteenth century. If you enjoy this music as a one-off concert piece it’s as well not to concern yourself either with the opera’s plot or its provenance – both are very complicated. There were three versions of the opera alone and four of the overture before the dust settled sometime in the 1840s, twenty years after the composer’s death and forty years after its initial composition. Never mind – enjoy Leonora no. 3 on its own merits – it’s a real rouser!
Accustomed as we are to sad stories of composers who died young, were always hard up or went mad it is a relief to turn to Joseph Haydn whose life was one of pure spun gold from beginning (1732) to end (1808) when he died peacefully in his own bed at age 77 revered by the entire musical world – and beyond. Consider some of the facts of his long life:
- he was born of music loving parents who, throughout his childhood scrimped and saved to ensure that he received every encouragement and the best musical teaching;
- during his young manhood he was never short of wealthy patronage;
- he enjoyed thirty years employment as Kapellmeister to the wealthy Esterhazy family giving him a lifetime of opportunity to develop his prolific creative genius;
- he made two hugely successful visits to London where he was lionised and composed a dozen ‘London’ symphonies;
- he spent his final years in Vienna where he produced two oratorios which were performed to great acclaim;
- on separate occasions in the early 1790s he could count Mozart and Beethoven among his appreciative pupils….
On first hearing Dvorak’s cello concerto Brahms is on record as having remarked: “if I had thought it possible to write a solo piece like that for the instrument I would have composed one long ago.” This sentiment can be backed by a quote from John Clapham’s authoritative biography of Dvorak:….”this noble work is notable for the richness of its invention and its imaginative and inspired colouring….there is little doubt that this work is the greatest of all cello concertos.” Difficult to follow that, of course, but on probing a little further into the background we are surprised to learn that, long after he had achieved celebrity as a composer Dvorak rejected the suggestion that he should write a cello concerto. He regarded the cello as a serviceable orchestral instrument, but not appropriate in any solo capacity. He didn’t like its ‘nasal high register’ nor its ‘mumbling bass’ (what about the bits in between, maestro?) But Victor Herbert (American composer who would have a go at anything and everything) took time off producing operettas to compose a cello concerto which so impressed Dvorak that, in a complete change of attitude, he set to work and created this mature masterpiece, first publicly performed in 1896. With its fountain of intoxicating melodies it has continued to enchant generations of music lovers ever since, not least on the afternoon of Sunday 9th November 2014 in the hands of the distinguished artist Benjamin Hughes.